Street letter-box



(No Model.)

A. S. ADLER. STREET LETTER BOX.

No; 463,265'. -Patented Nov'. 17; l1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT Ormea ABRAHAM S. ADLER, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

STREET LETTER-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 463,265, dated November 17, 1891. Application nea June 2. 1391. serai No. 394,814. un maden.

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ABRAHAM S. ADLER, a citizen of the United States, residing atBaltimore city and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Letter-Boxes, as set forth in the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which* Figure 1 is a sectional View of a letter-box embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the box open to receive the mail.

My invention relates to devices adapted for the reception of individual or general mail; and it consists of the constructions and combinations of devices, which I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim.

To enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to make and use the same,I will now describe its construction and indicate the manner iu which the same is carried out.

In the said drawings, A represents a receptacle, which may include anywell-known form of street letter-box or any box or receptacle adapted for house or ofce mail, the said box being of any appropriate design and having its inside divided by a vertical partition into two separate compartments A and B, the former of which may be designated the lettercompartment and the latter the compartment for newspapers and small packages of merchandise.77

Extending between the ends of the box is a plate C, curved, preferably, throughout its length and being pivotally hung at a point near its center to the box and having at its upper end a curved hollow head E, extending front and rear of the plate and consisting of top and bottom walls aand b, joined together at their ends and separated from each other a sufcient distance to provide a wide opening for the introduction of newspapers and small packages, the said lower wall Z) being prolonged or extended to form a cut-off,7 as I shall presently describe.

The head D is of sufcient weight to normally hold the front of the head projected through an openingEin the upper end of the box, so as to close communication with the front or letter compartment of the box, while at the same time the prolongation or extenn sion of the lower wall of the head strikes against a lug or stop c on the inside of the box and cuts off communication wit-h the newspaper-compartment. This arrangement pren cludes the possibility of any of the mail being abstracted, and also prevents dust and rain from entering the compartments and injuring the contents of the same.

NVhen it is desired to deposit a letter, the head is pushed back, so as to uncover the top of the letter compartment; but while this movement is taking place the lower curved end of the pivoted plate C is moving toward the front, and when the letter-entrance is open to receive the letter the lower portion of the `plate has ent-ered a recess CZ, formed in the front of the box, thereby cutting off communication with the lower part of the box and forming a supplemental chamber, into which the letter drops and is retained until the head is allowed to drop forward again, when the lower portion of the plate moves backward and permits the deposited mail to drop into the box proper.

Vhen newspapers or packages are to be deposited, the head is forced back and the article passed through the opening in the head and drops out of the rearend into the rear compartment. Then the hand is removed from the weighted head, the latter drops forward by its own gravity and automatically closes the entrance to both front and rear compartments. This arrangement of parts obviates the liability of the mail being stolen and makes a cheap, substantial, and secure box, either for streetcorner purposes or for residences and offices.

If desired,'the letter and newspaper compartments may have separate doors to facilitate the removal of the contents, or one door may be used for both compartments, and in the sides of the box may be placed glass-covered inspection-openings, through which it may be observed if any mail is within the box.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and. desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a letter-box having a division-plate forming separate compartments, a plate pivotally held at its center within the box and having a weighted head normally projected through an opening in the upper portion of the box and adapted to be moved back to per- IOOk mit the introduction of the mail-matter, said plate havin g its lower end curved forward and adapted to -cut off communication with the compartment in the forward lower part of the box when the head is pushed back, substantially as herein described.

2. In a letter-box havingl a centrally-disposed vertical plate forming separate front and rear compartments, a curved plate pivotally hung Within the box, having` a head normally projected through an opening` in the upper portion of the box, said head having an opening through it for the passage of mail to the rear receptacle and having a rear exten- Sion, which serves as a cut-off to the rear compartment when the head is projected, substantially as herein described.

3. In a letter-box having` a vertically-dis posed plate forming front and rear compartments, a centrally-pivoted curved plate Within said box, having a head at its upper end extending in front and rear of the plate, so as to cut olf communication with both compartments when the head is in its normal position.

ABRAHAM S. ADLER.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL S. Boees, GEORGE D. DEAN. 

